Hunger
by SpiritOfSakura
Summary: "In the end, Ciel's soul would taste infinitely better once he had achieved his revenge. But sometimes it was hard to remember that."


Humans lie and deceive. They feel emotions: sorrow, pain, happiness, hope. They drag others down into hell in order to climb higher themselves. Perhaps worst of all, despite their own natures, they somehow believe that they can trust others to never betray them. Demons, on the other hand, are very simple creatures. Their existence consists of but one constant goal: to satisfy their hunger.

So it was a very good thing that Sebastian was patient.

It had been such a long time since his last contract had ended. The scent of Ciel Phantomhive's soul had been too irresistible to pass up. And so now he waited patiently, anticipating the day when the contract would be completed and the boy's soul would be his. There was just one problem.

He was absolutely _ravenous_. And every time his master came near him, it took all of Sebastian's self-control to not take his soul then and there. But, he reminded himself, it would all be worth it. In the end, Ciel's soul would taste infinitely better once he had achieved his revenge.

But sometimes it was hard to remember that.

It wasn't at all unusual for Ciel to have nightmares. Tonight, however, they seemed to be much worse. Sebastian rushed to the room upon hearing his master's screams, waiting in the doorway as Ciel began to wake. Slowly, the boy's screams quieted into sobs, and only when Sebastian knocked gently on the opened door did Ciel notice him, looking up with a start.

"Se…Sebastian?" Ciel said, looking at the butler as if he weren't sure whether he was awake.

"I'm here, my lord," the demon assured him. "The nightmares again?"

"Yes…" Ciel paused and stayed silent for a while. Sebastian turned to leave, but Ciel suddenly spoke, halting him. "No. Stay here…"

Sebastian bowed his head. "As you wish."

"…Come over here. Sit on the end of the bed. I…I don't want to go back to sleep yet," the earl said quietly. Sebastian silently obliged, placing the candle he had been holding on the nightstand. Ciel was silent for a few moments more, then looked at Sebastian and began to speak, his voice ever so slightly quivering.

"They were there. Those people. They were dead, and they kept staring at me, and then they…they…" the boy trailed off, shivering, his voiced a frightened whisper.

Sebastian was justifiably worried—or, at the very least, concerned. His young master, though he tried to hide it, was just as vulnerable and weak as any human, of course. That was to be expected. But never before had he openly shown his weakness, not like this. Something was very wrong.

"My lord…" he began, but Ciel cut him off with a sudden, desperate glare.

"And you weren't there, Sebastian! You weren't there! I called you, and I screamed, but _you weren't there!_ You left me…"

And then the young earl did something so extraordinarily out of character that Sebastian didn't know how to react. He flung his arms around his butler's neck, buried his face in his tailcoat, and sobbed. Sebastian sat there frozen, eyes wide in alarm. What had possessed his young master to cause him to act this way? But he had no time to try and work it out, as Ciel shocked him yet again.

"You can't leave me! You can't! Not ever!" Ciel clutched at him, as if by holding on tightly he was preventing him from disappearing into thin air.

The butler tried to calm the boy, his tone soothing. "Of course I won—"

Ciel looked up into the butler's face, his eyes wild, his voice growing louder with each desperate plea. "Promise me! Swear you won't leave! You can never leave! I command you!"

Sebastian set his hands on the boy's shoulders and gently pushed him back, looking directly into his eyes with a calmness that seemed to quiet Ciel. "I swear. I shall be by your side until the end. And I never lie. You know that, my lord."

The earl was quiet for a long moment before speaking. "…Of course I do. Did you think I'd forgotten?" Now his master was beginning to sound like himself again. And now that Sebastian was no longer focused on calming Ciel, he noticed how heavy the scent of Ciel's soul was in the air, and how close the boy was to him. So tantalizingly close…

"Sebastian?" His master's voice sounded timid, and Sebastian snapped back to attention, wary of yet another bizarre episode.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Close your eyes. That's an order." Now Ciel's voice had lost the timidity, and Sebastian could almost believe he had imagined it. Almost.

Bemused, Sebastian obeyed. He could hear the boy shift slightly on the bed, and suddenly felt his master's hands cupping his face. He tensed; surely his young master couldn't be thinking of…

"Keep your eyes shut." The voice was dangerously close, and he could feel Ciel's breath on his face. His master's scent was all around him, that intoxicating aroma, the one that, if this didn't stop soon, whatever "this" was, would surely drive him mad.

"Young Master, whatever it is you're planning to do, I would strongly advise against it."

"Oh?" Ciel's voice held just a hint of anger. "And why is that?"

"A demon's sense of smell is particularly strong, and is especially tuned to the scent of human souls. Your scent is…rather intoxicating, particularly for a demon that hasn't fed in quite a while. If you continue with this, I may not be able to control my hunger."

"I'm sure you'll manage; you have been able to so far. After all," and here Ciel's voice took a slightly mocking tone as he imitated one of the butler's favorite lines, "if you couldn't do this much, what kind of butler would you be, hm?" And before the demon could protest any further, Ciel kissed him.

Sebastian's eyes shot open, then shut again as he kissed back, the heady scent of the boy's soul surrounding him and shutting out his awareness of anything else. Ciel's lips parted, and Sebastian expertly slid his tongue in, running it across the roof of the earl's mouth to make him shiver with pleasure. Drinking deeply of the soul's scent, Sebastian pushed the boy back down onto the bed, his pupils turning to slits, fangs showing in hunger. Yes, he wanted it, that tantalizing, delicious soul, so pure despite seeing so much darkness. A rare find, and it was _his_, his prey, his meal. And so, so ravenous, he wanted it, he _needed_ it. And he would take it. That delicate, delicious soul with its scent, its wonderful, impossibly intoxicating scent, and he would drink it up, all of it, until the last drop—

Ciel cried out in pain and fear, unable to breathe, to move. Sebastian's eyes snapped open, and for just a split second he glared hungrily at the boy, fangs bared. Then, with a sudden, swift movement, he was standing, still near Ciel but at more of a distance, gazing at him with his usual calm demeanor.

"I deeply apologize, my lord. It seems I could not control myself after all, as I said. Are you all right?"

"…Fine." Ciel had become withdrawn once again, both physically and mentally. "I'm fine," he repeated. "Just tired. I'm going back to bed. You can leave now."

Sebastian nodded and swiftly left the room, shutting the door behind him. Ciel lay there in the dark, shuddering as he recalled how Sebastian had looked at him, as if the butler were a cat and he were a mouse that had gotten caught in a trap, completely helpless while the cat slowly stalked closer, toying with its prey before killing it.

The rest of that night his nightmares consisted of that memory, playing over and over, but instead of returning to his normal manner before leaving the room, every time the dream ended, Sebastian froze, glared at Ciel, and said simply, in a voice that chilled him to the bone, with those glowing eyes that seemed to burn through him, "Never tempt a starving demon."


End file.
